Sir Galleth's Princess
by crazychika03
Summary: Sir Galleth learns he is the father of a tiny baby girl! A GIRL? Boy I wonder how well that's gonna settle over with our ever favorite bombastic knight? Have to read and find out huh? :)
1. Chapter 1

_Sir Galleth's Princess_

The young knight paced the ground nervously, concerned and sick to his stomach; "Hark! What could be taking so long!?" he said still pacing the hillside his nerves growing into a ball.

An old owl and fellow knight watched as he paced and the ground as the ground below Sir Galleth began to grow into a hole, the old boy chuckled. "Thou must be a wreck, tis alright Galleth. She'll be well!" he said trying his best to reassure him that his young lover was fine.

"Aye... I do suppose..." he said looking towards the castle, a look of concern grew upon his face, what if the child should look or resemble him in some way? What had happened between them nine months ago was to remain secret, though the Barron knew his foster child was quiet fond of the knight he would never allow her to marry him; even while she was pregnant he was still sending suitors for her to marry. Which begged the question, did he know she was pregnant? But at the present moment... That didn't seem to matter.

"Sir Gregory? Suppose the babe doth... Not resemble any of the suitors that Barron Charles hath sent away for Igrain... Suppose it should resemble that of one of the guards or... perhaps a fellow knight, what should happen to the man?" he asked, the moments it took for his friend's response were agonizing and painful.

"Well!?" Galleth demanded

"Forsooth! Galleth I know not of the answer thou seeketh!" Gregory retorted, the old owl then looked to Galleth both confused and shocked. "Galleth... is Igrain thy lover?" the owl asked

"Doth such..."

The argument was suddenly interrupted when suddenly, loud cries and whales could be heard coming from the estate; Galleth rushed back to the castle as fast as his feet could carry him. He'd hoped the Barron hadn't seen the child...

…

Galleth had to wait endlessly for night fall, as his duties kept him busy, the constant asking of favors and other annoying odd jobs had graded the knight's nerves endlessly and by the time he'd gotten to the castle he wished to speak to no one and refused to take anymore requests or favors. Unfortunately the constant business had done nothing to distract him from his fear, nay he did not fear for his own life as he put it at risk everyday, no he feared for the child's life; he was afraid that if the Barron had seen the child that he would perhaps would kill the child. He prayed up and down to God above that his child would be okay. Galleth slipped into the castle quietly unseen, he removed his shoes and armor knowing that it would only attract unwanted attention; he passed through the corridors without trouble.  
As he approached Igrain's room as a maid passed by with fresh blankets and towels, she smiled warmly at the knight. "You're daughter doth resemble much of thee Sir Galleth." she said warmly and walked away down the hallway. His heart dropped and his face grew pale.

_Resemble _

_Thee_

**_DAUGHTER!? _**

"Good lord... Oh dear God please I beg of thee let my heart and child be all right!" he said barreling through the door as he stood in the doorway shock and disbelief at the site before him, and there she was; his raven haired beauty with her emerald eyes beaming with the light of happiness at the warm whimpering bundle laying in a warm wool blanket in her arms. Galleth quietly closed the door all the while watching his maiden and the baby, could it really be?

A daughter?  
Is he really a father now?

He slowly approached them, his arms automatically reaching out to hold the child in her arms. "Please let me see the baby... I want to know if what they said was...True.." he said as she handed him the child he held the child up letting the blanket fall off her, well needless to say he was certainly the father of a beautiful baby girl. Igrain glared at Galleth unhappy he'd let the blanket fall off of his daughter, and his daughter too soon voiced that aggravation as she whaled loudly, the cold Autumn breeze flowing through the window and caught the baby in a draft. She shivered in his hands whimpering and whining loudly, thus causing Galleth to freak out momentarily, he eyed around the room quickly, only he found himself deciding to place the child in his shirt with her head sticking out of neck hole and he held her close trying to keep her warm, the fussy baby settled down and snuggled under the crook of her father's neck; Igrain watched the site before her and her heart melted.  
"_My princess, thou art but a sweet kitten...I doth love thee so." _Galleth said cuddling the baby as he began swaying back and forth to sooth the child, his love lay in the bed enjoying watching Galleth in his new role as a father. Igrain then decided to light a candle so that he may see his daughter in a somewhat better lighting; as the candle light shone brightly he then got a good look at his daughter only to find that what the servants said was true! His entire body went cold and pale as he pulled the child out of his shirt holding her yet again at arm's length... he was sure something would happen if the Barron saw her! Her coat a chocolately brown and her belly a tannish color as his, that was all he needed; though her eyes were not yet opened he had an inkling that they too looked like his. He grew ill with fear and concern for her the more he looked at his new-born daughter the more concern he had for her, Igrain's face too grew with worry and concern. "Galleth!" she said attempting to get his attention, her breaths too becoming shallow and her stomach growing in knots. "Galleth!" she said again more intensely as tears grew in her eyes; why wouldn't he answer her?!

"We must flee! Quickly!" he said hurrying around the room as if to search for an answer; he threw open the dresser doors and found oddly enough, a small basket, he quickly placed the baby into the basket to make sure it was big enough for her to fit. Fortunately she did and he quickly placed the babe back into her mother's arms. "I knoweth that the Barron hath been sending thee suitors... And I fear the for the child's well-being should he find out that ... We..." he paused gesturing to his daughter, "Created life." he finished. She looked to her daughter, her eyes as wide as a doe's and her ears fell flat as she quickly looked back to Sir Galleth, frightened as if to ask, '_You don't suppose...' _

"I doth not know my heart, all I do know is that I fear greatly for the well-being of our daughter..." He said, Igrain looked down her eyes searching the sheets and the baby's face, then suddenly it struck her! "Galleth! In the woods! There's a cottage deep within the woods! Ya take her there! She'll be safe until I can get away... and then we'll run away to another town..." she said pausing thinking, Galleth looked at her unsure. He had an inkling that she was hiding something but he wasn't sure, "What doth he know Igrain?" he asked brow raised in suspicion; she looked out the window unsure if she should mention it to him. "He hath not seen the babe yet but... If the maidens in castle keep blatherin bout it, he's threaten to hang anyone that got my pregnant if they were not of royal blood." she said, Galleth set the basket down and walked over to her in shock! How could she hide such a thing?!

"Why would..."

"Because I didn't want you to worry! I didn't want you to turn tails n run away! I was afraid if ye had heard of what was to happen... You'd abandon her..." she said clutching the baby to her breasts, she knew she should have told him ... She knew she should have but, her fears overwhelmed her! They ate her alive as one would eat an entire piece of meat whole after not having eaten for weeks! Galleth knelt at her bedside and began to stroke her hair. "My dove, we shall be remain out of harm's way and in fine fettle! I shan't abandon our daughter! By the honor of the Cooper Clan!" he said boldly getting to his feet, she chuckled smiling at him feeling better. Galleth continued to gathering supplies to care for the baby, glass viles to put milk in, a few pieces of cloths for diapers and so and so forth. All the while, Igrain snuggled and nuzzled her baby girl. She knew this would be the last she would see her daughter for a good while and took this as an opportunity to bond with her baby girl. "Sweet child, eat to thy heart's content." speaking softly kissing the baby's forehead.

...

Hours passed and it was now early day break, the two had waited for the baby to fall asleep so that they could slip her out silently; and in the process they themselves fallen asleep as well, and it wasn't until the baby had cried for food that they had abruptly woken up! After a quick feed Galleth slipped her out the castle gates unseen with stealthy footsteps he'd quietly gotten out of the estate grounds.

Soon Galleth found himself deep within the woods, the fact that the child was silent both eased and concerned him, he found himself stopping every fifteen minutes to check and make sure the baby was still breathing and alive, which she was! The gallant knight pressed forward his weapons at the ready to protect his precious heir. As the day went on Galleth found himself realizing where he was, granted he knew these like no other, but even then some parts were strange to him; "I do believe we are close, what doth thee say sweet kitten?" he said to her chuckling, she quickly began to whimper. Which not only made Galleth uneasy as he was new to being a father and had NO CLUE how to care for children, but he also knew she was very likely to attract unwanted attention. He was quick to grab her out of the basket and pressed her close to him, swaying her whispering to her to be quiet and doing his best to sooth the child. But the attempts were in vain as she kept whimpering softly, he couldn't figure it out!

"Sshh, shhh, Hush my s_weet child, what tis... wrong... with thee.." _he trailed off as he felt the child trying to suckle milk from him, she tugged gently at his nipple and kneaded against her father's chest. Galleth looked on somewhat un-nerved and lil horrified as his eyes widened and his ears fell flat. "OH! Princess I hahaha, no I have no milk for thee my child!" He said placing the baby back into the basket and and dug around in the bag he'd brought, "Diapers...A dummy...AHA! Here we go!" he said pulling out a vile of breast milk, he placed an cow tit over the vile, knelt down and fed the baby girl. He smiled warmly at the baby, he chuckled as he watched the child eagerly drink down her mother's milk from the vile. "That's it drink up, there." he said stroking her head, _'I doth not know why I was so concerned about becoming a father at all! Thus far it hath been a fairly simple task! I could do this easily with one hand!' _he boasted, smiling proudly at his ... latest accomplishment, granted it was only feeding time that was being done, he still felt proud as ever none the less. When she'd finished, Galleth put everything away and kept on pressing forward. And not but a few seconds later, the baby had begun crying a whaling as loudly as her tiny lungs would let her!

Galleth quickly placed the basket and down and looked around scared and trying his best to silence the baby. "Sshh hush-hush please! What is wrong now?! I hath fed thee! Now why art thou crying?!" he said picking her up, patting her back thus inadvertently causing her to burp. He stood for a moment surprised, not realizing that was all she needed... "A simple burping?! That was it?! Well I dare say this shall be an EASY task after all! Haha! Yes, childcare tis such a simple task, all that must be done is to feed, burp and put the child to sleep! What more tis there to do!?" he said becoming more and more excited at the ease of parenthood, not realizing there was much more work to be done. Unfortunately the child's utterly loud cries did not go unnoticed as he heard what sounded to be a twig snapping, he looked around quickly getting to his feet and clutching his daughter close to him. "Who goes there?!" he called, his right hand gripping the hilt of sword tightly ready to attack.

"Well I didn't think such was possible, but alas.. It tis! Sir Galleth is a father.. and a rather poor and stupid one at that!" came a cold smooth voice,

"Reveal thy self! Immediately!" The noble knight called yet again

Suddenly a weasel appeared out of the woods wearing a brown hood and a yellow vest, a canvas of arrows at his back and small make-shift sword at his side; Sir Galleth rolled his eyes, unamused and greatly annoyed and unimpressed at the sight of the pitiful swords man before him. "Oh look at what lay before me... the great and noble village fool!" Galleth spat knowing it was greatly grade on the young man's nerves; this only caused him to growl and snarl at the raccoon, as he gripped his bow so tightly it broke in his grip! Well unwilling to stand for the raccoon's insults any longer, he quickly ripped his sword from its hilt and held the sword's point to Galleth's nose. Galleth looked towards the young weasel as if he were insulted by such an outrageous gesture! "Really Virgile, doth thee not have better things to do?!" Galleth said trying to push the young man's sword, only for Virgile to shove his sword back in Galleth's face.  
Annoyed and growing impatient Galleth unsheathed his own sword, "If it is a fight thou art look for, it tis a fight thou shall get!" he said in his usually over-confident and cocky tone.

"baa.." came a small sound and it was then Galleth remembered the small bundle in his arms, he looked on now realizing he was just a tad too overly confident and was now concerned and had hoped he'd be able to win the fight without harming the child. Galleth stepped back, sword still at the ready and before he could even process what was going on the young man had slashed his sword across Galleth's face only for knight's nose to be scarred, he let out a small scream, lowered his sword across his body and quickly flung his sword out only to knock the sword out of his opponent's hand; while his opponent was distracted he quickly laid the baby back down in her basket and darted off avoiding too much of a fight. Though it went against his personality and as much as it irked him to have to retreat but he had qualms about sword fighting while holding an infant in his arms and with better judgement decided that for now it was best to retreat quickly.

"Aha! I've found it! Now Sir Galleth prepare to meet thy... huh?!" he said confused now realizing his opponent was gone! Virgile shook with anger, _FURIOUS _that Galleth had taken off. Out of anger Virgile took out his bow and loaded it with an arrow, aiming it at Sir Galleth, who in his rush had forgotten to put his armor back on. Virgile pulled his arrow back and took a shot hitting Galleth in the shoulder blade. Galleth tumbled as he was hit dropping the basket and the baby went tumbling out as well, she whimpered and cried softly showing how disgruntled she was. Galleth struggled to get to his as he tried to grip his shoulder blade, he stumbled to get the baby but he quickly felt a sword at his back. Galleth's eyes flew open into a furious spiral as he pulled out his sword once again and spun around slashed Virgile across the hips causing him grip his wound falling the ground. Galleth grabbed up the baby and then turned to face the young weasel. "Don't...EVER, come between me ... and...and my child! EVER! For I SHALL take thee down where thy stands!" he warned and continued on his way...


	2. Chapter 2

...

It was late in the evening when Galleth had finally made it to the cottage, he'd taken some time to treat his wound and get it wrapped up. The baby was asleep after she'd eaten and had her bath a diaper change. He sat on the stool, now alone with his thoughts. He turned his head towards the window lost in thought, '_A girl...' _Galleth thought, he let out a deep heavy sigh, not only from being tired and weak but from the stress and chain of events that had taken place recently.

'_I had hoped for a son... A young lad that I could shape and mold into my own image, that I could train in the ways of knighthood...' _he thought, all his dreams for a son had gone up into smoke! There wasn't much he could do with a daughter, except to have a male suitor come and fight off any unwanted or unsavory characters that he didn't like being around her, more stress and strain... Twas all that was... He leaned against his elbows and watched the landscape out of the window, when suddenly there came a knock at the door, Galleth prepped himself ready to defend what was his, only to find that it was Lady Constance, the cantankerous border collie woman that worked at the estate. "Igrain thought ye like to have some help, so I've come to help. Where is she?" she asked, Galleth stood stunned unsure of what to think but once his thoughts had returned he regained his composure and pointed up the stairs to the master bedroom. "She is asleep now, so I do presume she will be contented for a small while." Galleth said shaking his head exhausted as he plopped back down into the stool, the moment he did the baby cried and Galleth groaned. "Tis it not enough that I hath fed, changed, burped and protected this child for one day? How long must this go on for?!" he said mostly tired and groggy; "I'll care for her." said Constance as she went up stairs to get the baby, '_A baby girl... I still cannot fathom such a thing...Why not a son?' _he muttered.

"And what's wrong with a daughter?!" Constance's voice sounded out in anger, Galleth whirled around and found a scowling Constance walking towards him as she shoved the baby into his arms. Her fury towards Galleth was ever growing, granted she wasn't always fond of Sir Galleth, but his now current attitude towards his daughter was just in infuriating!

"Why is it such a great disappointment you have a daughter, eh!? What is because she cannot become a knight?! Because you cannot give her away to another noble family and ride of her for good?! LIKE YOU COULD SON!? I've heard talk of you wanting a son! I heard you wanted to make him a knight! But ya know what?! That's NOT what Igrain wanted... Oh she too wanted a son! She did! But hearing you talkin on and on about sending him away making him a knight killed her inside and she prayed to God that she would be blessed with a healthy baby girl! And now... that's EXACTLY what you have in your arms! A helpless baby girl! A new-born daughter! And like it or not, you're stuck with her! You've got to live with the fact that you don't have son, but a happy healthy baby girl! And she needs you! Just as much as YOU need HER! ..." Constance scolded him, another particular reason as to why these two never got along, "Did ya ever once ask what Igrain, your wife,"

_"She's actually my lover, we never married..." _Galleth mumbled

"Wife, Lover, whatever! Did ya ever ask her what she wanted what was best for the baby? She knew better yet that thee wouldn't give the child a chance to decide what he wanted to with his life!"

"I would have not forced our child!"

"OH YES YA WOULD! THINK ABOUT OF IT GALLETH! WOULD YOU HAVE GIVEN THE CHILD A CHANCE..."

But all the loud arguing was interrupted by the baby's cries, Galleth quickly began bouncing her in his arms trying to sooth her. "Hush my baby hush, its alright. See what thee hath done now?!" he retorted angrily. Constance sighed aggravated with him, and walked out feeling it was best to leave Sir Galleth alone...

Galleth sat in the chair most of the night, holding and snuggling his child all the while lost in thought.

_'Had our daughter been born a son, I would have given him a chance, perhaps I would have hinted at him being a knight, told of our tales and even given him a taste of our order, take him to a meeting or two, let him meet the other knights and let him patrol with me when he was old enough... And maybe train him up a bit...' _

Galleth sat realizing that.. Maybe what Constance had said was right, maybe he wouldn't have... No, it was best not to think on it anymore as it was just water under the bridge... But one thing was for sure, it probably wasn't the wisest of ideas to boast about having a son who would someday be knight... Suddenly Galleth felt nuzzling in his fur he looked down and found his baby girl cuddling him. He chuckled as he petted her back, '_Thou art but a sweet kitten aren't you child?' _ As much as he didn't much want to admit it, he was falling in love with her. The more time he spent around her, the more he fell in love with the young kit; he sat and scratched the back of her ear, he watched as the baby's ear flickered a few times before she scratched her ear as a way of telling him to stop, he chuckled again. _"Precious child..." _ Galleth muttered.

"Perhaps... Having a daughter won't be as bad as I had thought... But I do wish Igrain had told me your name before I'd left..." Galleth sat for a moment still rocking her, he sat thinking back to last night. He thought back to some names the two had come up with, but there was one in particular the couple was quit fond of and now what was it?!

_'Ginny... No that wasn't it... Ginger? ... No that doesn't sound right! Blazes! What WAS that name that we had come up with it sounded like.. Gwen.. Gwen.. Guinevere! AH! Yes that was it!' _ "Yes that! That twas the name we had agreed upon.. Guinevere... Sweet baby Guinevere, I doth love thee so... And, I do apologize for my behavior towards thee earlier... I should not have thought such things my dear kitten... But know this my heart, I am your father, and as your father I will always be here for you! To love and protect thee, and mayhap one day ... You my dear girl, shall become a great and gallant knight! But... For now, thou art my sweet baby girl. My princess! Princess Guinevere Faith Cooper, of the Cooper Order. May you always be great, and may you always be mine and your mother's baby girl. I do love thee Guinevere." he said kissing her forehead and snuggling her, his heart filling with joy.

Perhaps a daughter wouldn't be so bad after all.

_~The End _


End file.
